The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Crossandra infundibuliformis which was discovered by me in the greenhouse of Green World in Red Springs, N.C. and which has been given the name `Diane`.
At the time of discovery of the present invention, my attention was drawn to a particular plant grown from seed by myself which was quite different from the other crossandra seedlings by virtue of its rounded, thicker leaves and a more robust habit of growth. As this distinctively different plant grew to blooming size, I then noticed that it also produced flowers which were strikingly distinctive from those of the other crossandra plants, the flowers of `Diane` having noticeably larger and also more rounded petals and a distinctive color which was a darker, richer shade of salmon orange than that of the common variety. The flowers also exhibited noticeably larger yellow eye spots on the petals.
When I first began to asexually reproduce this plant, however, I noticed that as many times as not the new variety reverted to the older form. This is referred to in scientific terms as a mericlinal chimera. It took approximately two years of repeatedly taking cuttings from the original `Diane` before I was able to obtain a stable form of the new variety. Since the first stable form was obtained, I have successfully asexually propagated approximately 15 generations of `Diane` all of which have shown the aforementioned distinctive features.
The success in stabilizing the new form indicates the characteristics and distinctions are fixed and established and come through succeeding propagations.